“Mingled Visions: Images from ‘The North American Indian’ by Edward S. Curtis,” opening Saturday, Feb. 7, at Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher, 250 Flora St., features 40 original photogravures from Edward S. Curtis’ epic work, “The North American Indian,” including one of Curtis’ earliest images, taken in 1895, of Princess Angeline, the elderly daughter of Chief Sealth.

The portrait won the top prize in a photography contest and helped launch Curtis’ career, ultimately leading to his mission to document and celebrate the vanishing heritage of Native American people. Curtis spent three decades documenting more than 80 tribes west of the Mississippi, producing more than 40,000 images and thousands of pages of text.

A definitive project of the American West, “The North American Indian” was published in 20 volumes from 1907 to 1930.

“Mingled Visions” is organized by the Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa.